How can quick service restaurants remain profitable in a competitive landscape?

How to reverse same-store sales declines

No two businesses are the same — and there is no one-size-fits-all strategy to overcome industry-wide deterioration in same-store sales. Overcoming this challenge demands a data-driven strategy built from the inside out.

The following approach outlines how your QSR business can tackle these challenges systemically, starting with the fundamentals of your own business operations:

1. Perform an ABC SKU analysis

You can get started by categorizing your stock keeping units (SKUs) based on both their positive and negative impact on profitability and demand. This enables your team to prioritize their attention and resources on the products that truly drive your business, while identifying low-value SKUs that may be dragging down business performance or tying up working capital.

2. Conduct a spend analysis

Once you have identified your priority SKUs, analyzing the costs tied to them will uncover valuable opportunities to improve your margins. This step helps flag high-cost raw materials and pinpoint where procurement pressure can be applied through renegotiation, substitution, or process optimization.

3. Order frequency and MOQ analysis

Is your business ordering the right items, in the right quantities, at the right times? A minimum order quantity (MOQ) analysis examines how well your ordering aligns with consumption patterns and supplier requirements. It helps reduce delivery costs, avoid excess stock, and prevent the hidden costs of last-minute orders or unmet MOQs.

4. Analyze supplier performance and pricing

It is important to evaluate whether your current relationships with suppliers are truly benefitting your business. Are your suppliers delivering on time? Are their prices competitive? Are they able to scale with your needs? Holding suppliers accountable and exploring alternatives can unlock both cost savings and service improvements for your business.

5. Align offerings with demand through a pricing and product mix analysis

Pricing changes should only be considered after you fully understand your cost base. An informed pricing strategy evaluates which menu items can withstand price reductions or justify increases without damaging your margins. This helps align your product offerings with both consumer expectations and business realities.

How to expand visibility across your business

Additional layers of analysis can further strengthen your strategy, including:

• Franchisee compliance audits: This helps ensure operational consistency across locations.
• Marketing ROI analysis: This shows whether spend is being allocated to the right products, audiences, and regions.
• Waste and inventory turnover analysis: This helps uncover inefficiencies that may be eroding profits unnoticed.

From insight to action

These insights can help QSR leaders move from a reactive to proactive approach in an uncertain economic landscape. For example, if consumer feedback points to pricing concerns, your business can make informed trade-offs by reducing prices on key SKUs while negotiating better supplier terms based on increased order volume. This approach can help minimize margin erosion while maintaining competitiveness.

Performing this type of analysis coupled with forward-looking forecasting can give your business clarity, control, and confidence. This makes it possible to navigate a volatile market with agility and precision.